Montreal Hasids to go to court over law nixing synagogues

Hasidic Jews in Montreal’s tony Outremont borough are vowing to go to court after a referendum upheld a bylaw banning new places of worship.

“It’s very disappointing,” Hasidic leader Abraham Ekstein tells the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The bylaw, passed last year, was upheld Sunday by a vote of 1,561 to 1,202.

The basis for the court case, according to Ekstein, will be religious discrimination running counter to rights guaranteed under Canada’s and Quebec’s human rights charters.

While the bylaw prohibits any religion from establishing a new house of worship on a specific upscale street — ostensibly to promote local business activity — Ekstein and others feel the real target was the Hasidic community, which makes up one-quarter of the borough’s population and is growing rapidly.

— JTA